I'm getting all sorts of mixed messages. I was raised to tip, and I feel uncomfortable NOT tipping, but it seems that I'm a rarity among my friends and collegues.

It depends - if you're a reasonable guest, don't request special services, don't leave things trashed, then no, unless it's a REALLY long stay. If you have small children that grind crackers in the carpet when you're not looking, have an unhousebroken Great Dane staying with you, or ask for your room to be cleaned three times a day, then most definitely.

In general, if you're asking for more than normal amounts of service, then you do - if not, you don't. Sometimes I'll tip if it's a long stay, as they tend to have to work around more stuff and I want the service to continue to be good when I return (if its a long stay for me, it's a long repeat stay).

I never tipped until we retired. Now, I overtip to kind of make up for it.

If the room is perfect, I tip about 5%. If there are awful housekeeping issues, I lower it to as low as $1 per person and leave a kind note. Things that lower the tip are dust on the TP and towel holders, popcorn kernels under the table that I see when I bend down to plug in our electronics, and sticky stuff on anything.

Once, I had to clean our own bathroom. Fortunately, the laundry room was open and I could sneak some bleach. No tip. No note.

I had heard long ago that the tip is really based on the way you find the room so it all evens out. However, I agree with:

It depends - if you're a reasonable guest, don't request special services, don't leave things trashed, then no, unless it's a REALLY long stay. If you have small children that grind crackers in the carpet when you're not looking, have an unhousebroken Great Dane staying with you, or ask for your room to be cleaned three times a day, then most definitely.

In general, if you're asking for more than normal amounts of service, then you do - if not, you don't. Sometimes I'll tip if it's a long stay, as they tend to have to work around more stuff and I want the service to continue to be good when I return (if its a long stay for me, it's a long repeat stay).

"Mine was doing that at well. It was the water in the tank filling up too much and running into the overflow drain. I was able to adjust the bulb-float and it hasn't done it since."

That should make the water run constantly, not switch on and off, unless your float is balanced just so that it doesn't quite cut off the supply when the water tops off. Since this is a new problem with a decade-old toilet, I'd suspect a leak instead of a bad adjustment.

Virg

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll look into it when I get home.

UPDATE (in case anyone was interested ): I went home and pulled up on the bulb-float and it seemed to work for a while. Then the toilet began to run a little again, on and off. It seemed fine for a day or two and then would run. I never got around to fussing with it further until a couple weeks ago. I don't generally sleep well on Sunday nights and the toilet that is in our master bath - so not far from my head. I heard it go through the cycle twice while trying to go to sleep. Fed up, I lifted the lid and pulled up on the bulb-float again. But apparently I used too much strength as it broke off in my hand! Now the toilet was running with busto and a purpose as it figured the toilet had been flushed. I held up the little bit that was remaining of the bulb arm to stop it but I couldn't let it go to find a better situation (old 70s sitcoms came into my mind at that point). It was a little after midnight so, no, I didn't think about turning off the water at the base. Finally I was able to shove the broken bulb arm under the remaining piece and wedged it in so it wouldn't run. I was still awake (that little incident sort of woke me up even more ) when my husband got up around 1am to use the bathroom. I told him to use the powder room as I had "broken the toilet".

But, happy ending, I called the local plumber at 7:30am that morning and it was fixed a little after 8:00 am (I love small towns). The problem was, as Virg and someone else mentioned, a leak. The rubber seal at the bottom of the tank had warped a little, which they are apt to do after a long time.

I'm getting all sorts of mixed messages. I was raised to tip, and I feel uncomfortable NOT tipping, but it seems that I'm a rarity among my friends and collegues.

I always tip hotel cleaning. When traveling with family, each person in the room contributes a dollar a day, and five dollars at the end of the stay.

I've only tipped once and that is because the person went above and beyond simply straightening up our room. I don't understand tipping at hotels. But I'm starting to feel more and more pressure to do so and I really dislike that.

I'm getting all sorts of mixed messages. I was raised to tip, and I feel uncomfortable NOT tipping, but it seems that I'm a rarity among my friends and collegues.

I always tip hotel cleaning. When traveling with family, each person in the room contributes a dollar a day, and five dollars at the end of the stay.

I've only tipped once and that is because the person went above and beyond simply straightening up our room. I don't understand tipping at hotels. But I'm starting to feel more and more pressure to do so and I really dislike that.

That's how I feel as well, ScubaGirl. I'd never heard of tipping in a hotel (short of waitstaff because that's expected no matter where you are) until about 2 years ago. I will only tip someone if they go above and beyond.

Now I haven't actually see anyone wearing or carrying these things, but I see them in stores all over the place. Did I miss the hipster memo on this?

I saw the rise in this 3-4 hears ago when I worked at Hot Topic. The junior high and senior high school kids were all doing it, and none of them could explain it to me further than, "Mustaches are cool!" I wish I knew...

I'm getting all sorts of mixed messages. I was raised to tip, and I feel uncomfortable NOT tipping, but it seems that I'm a rarity among my friends and collegues.

I usually tip at least a dollar a day.

I once helped out in a hotel housekeeping department for 3 weeks. I would not wish that job on anyone. Some rooms were fairly easy, and some rooms were simply horrible. You had to work very fast to get all your rooms finished, and your reward for that was more rooms to clean. Tips were random. Some of the worst rooms never tipped. Pay at most hotels is minimum wage.

For me, that $1 per day is my way of saying that I value the housekeeper's hard work, even if they didn't have to do much in my room. YMMV.

(I still have no idea what was in that full tub full of weirdly green water left by the checked out guest - I'm hoping some sort of bathing supplement)

I'm getting all sorts of mixed messages. I was raised to tip, and I feel uncomfortable NOT tipping, but it seems that I'm a rarity among my friends and collegues.

I always tip, usually a dollar a day if all the person has had to do was regular cleaning and making the bed/bringing fresh towels.

While I am always finding out, usually here, places and people where I should be tipping and haven't been, I always thought tipping in hotels/motels was pretty standard. In my 1950 edition of Emily Post, she gives a long list of staff in hotels who should be tipped, including the elevator operator. She recommends 25 cents a day for the chambermaid. So tipping in hotels is not a new idea.

I guess I'm a bit startled that tipping in hotels isn't customary everywhere, since tipping is so expected in so many places these days.